Swampy Swimming
by Admiral T. DeVanto
Summary: Levi almost drowns, Connie plays the hero...temporarily, and everyone suddenly grows a fear for slimy reptiles. How did this happen?


Erwin surveyed everything around him carefully, watching as the Scouts splashed around in the creek. He grimaced at the thought of all that muck that was at the bottom of the small creek. But, the shade from the many trees and thick foliage was a nice refuge from the unrelenting, sweltering sun.

He continued to watch as the rough-housing in the creek increased. Jean and Eren seemed to have declared a splash war against each other, and Armin seemed to be the one caught in the crossfire. The girls were separated from the boys, choosing to soak in the cold water rather than get involved in the war.

"Disgusting," Levi muttered. Erwin glanced to see the captain stride towards him. A frown was placed on Levi's face as he stared down into the creek. "All of that mud at the bottom of the creek." He wrinkled his nose at the thought.

Erwin shrugged. "At least they were able to cool down for a bit." He looked up at the high sun. "Although, we should probably pack up and head back."

Levi nodded in agreement. Clearing his throat, he stepped close to the edge. "Alright," Levi said suddenly, causing all eyes to look up at him. "We head back."

Erwin couldn't contain his knowing smirk as the collective groans rang about. Hanji seemed equally amused and chuckled as she wrung out her hair. Unsurprisingly, she had decided to jump in the creek as well, but like a reasonable person, she had trudged out once she had been cooled down. "Aw, c'mon Levi! Aren't you a little hot? Go dip your pinky toe in the water!"

"I'm fine, Four-Eyes," Levi grunted. "And we need to get moving instead of horsing around."

Hanji rolled her eyes in response. "Oh, lighten up," she exclaimed. She strode forward and placed her hands on Levi's shoulders. "After all, what's a little water going to do to you?"

Erwin's eyes narrowed as he instantly realized what Hanji was about to do. "Hanji," he warned. "Wait-" But he was too late. Hanji was already shoving Levi forward. Erwin let out a startled shout as he rushed forward. Levi's eyes widened as he slipped off of the ledge and fell into the deeper part of the creek. Erwin's eyes widened in horror as reached the ledge just in time to witness Levi's body hit the water with a loud 'splash.'

Hanji chuckled with growing amusement as Levi fell into the creek. Oh, she knew she would possibly pay for it, but it was worth it. "Oh relax sir," she said dismissively. "It's not like the guy can't swim."

"That's just it," Erwin exclaimed worriedly. "Levi can't swim!"

* * *

Connie was actually the one who saw Levi fall in, and he had been the one to hear the commander's startled shouts. So, with swift and mighty strokes, Connie swam over to the area where he saw the captain fall in. With a deep breath, he went under water and grabbed the captain's flailing arms. Trying his best to kick up to the surface, Connie soon found himself struggling. Try as he might, he could not quite bring Levi up to the surface as he originally thought.

A shadowy figure dove underwater and grabbed the captain's other arm. Through the murky water, Connie could just make out Krista's blonde hair and wide blue eyes. Together, Connie and Krista kicked upwards.

Gasping, Connie helped support the captain up as he tried to swim them to the edge of the creek. However, he was tiring quickly from supporting Levi's body, and Krista was not faring any better. Glancing around and trying not to panic, Connie spotted several rocks jutting out from the water.

"Here!" Connie gasped, trying to swim towards the rocks. "We'll wait here!" He splashed forward, dragging at Levi with Krista's help. He could feel the captain struggling to stay afloat, even as they scrambled to grab ahold of a particular slimy rock. Connie winced as the green moss touched his fingers, but at least he was able to catch his breath.

"You okay...captain?" Connie gasped. However, one look at Levi's dark glare had Connie gulping in sudden fear.

"She...is...dead," Levi growled.

Both Krista and Connie traded concerned looks. Connie swallowed worriedly and decided that he did not want to know who Levi was referring to. As long as Connie wasn't on the captain's 'hit list,' than he was fine with that.

Connie turned to look towards the bank and began waving his hands. "Hey!" he shouted. "We need a little help here!" He narrowed his eyes as he noticed Sasha and the others coming back in to help, and he let out a sigh of relief. However, that releif turned to pure terror as he heard Sasha's startled screams.

"SNAKE!"

"WHERE!?" Connie shrieked. He scrambled up on the rock desperately, a look of fright in his eyes. "Kill it! Kill it!"

"Don't hurt the poor snake!" Krista protested.

Connie stopped his frantic thrashing for but a moment to stare at her in shock. "It's a snake!"

"So?" Krista countered, glaring at him. "What did it ever do to you?"

"How about crawl up my pants when I was a child? That's what!" he exclaimed.

"I don't care about your traumatic childhood or slimy reptiles," Levi growled. "Someone just get me a raft!"

* * *

Hearing the screaming coming from the deep end of the creek, both Ymir and Reiner looked up to see Krista clinging to a rock with Connie and Levi. In Reiner's eyes, his poor goddess was stranded and in need of help. In Ymir's eyes, Krista was clinging to the rock desperately as the waves crashed down on her.

In reality, Krista was just trying to calm down a frantic Connie while soothe an irritated captain.

"Krista!" Ymir yelled, running into the water.

"I'll save you!" Reiner hollored. The blonde boy proved to be faster than Ymir as he splashed into the water, but Ymir proved to be just as nimble. With a cat-like snarl, Ymir pounced on Reiner and pushed him under the water. Sputtering, Reiner clawed at Ymir, forcing her to trip.

"Um, guys," Armin started awkwardly. "Shouldn't we help Levi and-"

"Snake! Snake! Snake!" Eren screamed as he trampled over Armin, running out of the water with surprising speed. Right on his tail was an equally frightened Jean. "Don't let it crawl up your pants!" All thoughts about rescuing Levi was completely thrown out the window as everyone scrambled to get away from the snake that no one could see in the water.

Meanwhile, Bertholdt just stood in the water and calmly reached down to pick up the 'snake.' "Oh," he stated with a smile. "So that's what happened to my belt."

* * *

"Um," Krista started awkwardly. "I think our rescue party is in need of rescuing."

Levi grumbled, running a hand through his wet hair. This was not what he needed from his day. He was soaking wet, he had nearly drowned, and he was sitting on a mucky rock because he couldn't swim! How the commander knew about his inability to swim, he didn't know. But he had to admit that he would have to address that at some point. He was Humanity's Strongest for goodness sakes! He should know how to swim.

Apparently, Connie thought the same way. "So, captain, you really don't know how to swim?"

Levi's only response was to shove Connie off of the rock and into the water. Resting his chin on his hand, he set about to plotting ways to get back at Four-Eyes for this situation.

* * *

 **A/N: Another Birthday present for Lieutenant Myst!**


End file.
